Startup India Seed Fund Scheme
Also called: SISFS · Topic: Factors of Production, Entrepreneurship and Startups · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) is a 2021 scheme under Startup India, the programme run by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade). It has a corpus of ₹945 crore, which is the total pool of money set aside for it. It gives seed funding, the very first money a startup needs to test an idea, build a prototype or try it in the market. The support is mostly grant-type, and it reaches startups through selected incubators. An incubator is a centre that houses and guides new ventures. An Expert Advisory Committee oversees the scheme. It matters because at this early stage banks will not lend and investors rarely put in money, so many good ideas die before they are tested.
Example
A small team at an engineering college incubator has a working model of a low-cost water filter but no money to test it in villages. Through SISFS, the incubator gives them seed support for trials. By 2026, all ₹945 crore had been committed and 219 incubators had been selected.
Don't confuse with
- Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS): FFS gives equity-type capital, meaning money in return for a share of ownership. It has a ₹10,000 crore corpus managed by SIDBI and invests only through SEBI-registered AIFs, never directly in startups. SISFS gives seed support through incubators.
- Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS): CGSS does not give money. It guarantees collateral-free loans, which means loans without security, made by lenders to startups.